Workforce
SSAB's Borlänge site employs around 1,800 people and is being developed as a processing and distribution hub as SSAB moves to new production processes.
Borlänge is the largest urban centre in Dalarna, central Sweden, and is built around the SSAB Domnarvet strip-steel works and the Stora Enso Kvarnsveden paper mill. SSAB describes its Borlänge works, established in 1878, as its largest strip rolling system, making hot-rolled and cold-rolled high-strength steel for automotive, heavy-duty transport, lifting and container uses, with around 1,700 employees. An intrinsically safe mobile phone distributor in Borlänge would carry the IS-04Z1 to these buyers once certification completes.
Pre-launch · certification in progress · Launching Q4 2026
Short answer. Borlänge has no appointed SAMS distributor yet: the IS-04Z1 is pre-launch (certification in progress, no certificate issued, launch planned for Q4 2026), and distributor applications are open.
Status: pre-launch. IECEx, ATEX, UKEX and NEC 500 certification is in progress and no certificate has been issued; launch is planned for Q4 2026. An operator's own vendor approval is a separate step. Certification status. Place facts reviewed October 2026.
| Check | What to look for | IS-04Z1 today |
|---|---|---|
| Level of protection | ia, ib or ic matched to the zone | ib, for Zone 1 |
| Entity parameters | Uo, Io and Po within the device limits | Published with the certificate |
| Accessories | Chargers and cases certified with the device | Defined at certification |
| Where it applies | Borlänge: Fuel and process gas systems, Chemical and oil storage, Dust-generating process areas (Zone 21) | Classified by the site operator |

An intrinsically safe Android smartphone designed for Zone 1 and Zone 21 hazardous areas in Borlänge. It is pre-launch: IECEx, ATEX and NEC 500 certification is in progress ahead of the Q4 2026 launch.
A short profile of the site and the kinds of classified area that matter for portable equipment.
SSAB's Borlänge site employs around 1,800 people and is being developed as a processing and distribution hub as SSAB moves to new production processes.
Large works run their own contractor induction and permit-to-work systems, so access to classified areas is arranged through each operator.
Borlänge Central is a railway junction for routes toward Falun, Mora and Ludvika and links to Gävle and Stockholm, and Dala Airport lies 8 km south-east, with Arlanda 214 km away.
Dalarna University was founded in 1977 as a joint college for Falun and Borlänge, and the town hosts the head office of the Swedish Transport Administration, Trafikverket.
Borlänge has long been an industrial town around the Domnarvet iron and steel works, now SSAB, and the Kvarnsveden paper mill, owned by Stora Enso.
Construction of the Domnarvet ironworks began in 1872, and a railway between Falun and Ludvika via Borlänge opened in 1875, making the town a strategic junction for the works.
Intrinsic safety limits the electrical and thermal energy in a circuit so that neither a spark nor a hot surface can ignite a gas or dust atmosphere, even when a fault occurs. The ib level, used for Zone 1, tolerates one fault. It is the usual way to make a handheld device that a worker carries continuously through a hazardous area.
The IS-04Z1 is designed on this principle for Zone 1 and Zone 21 (marking target II 2 G Ex ib IIC T4). Intrinsic safety is a design basis, not a certificate: certification is in progress and none has been issued yet.
In Borlänge. Winter rounds at a large works mean gloved hands and long walks between units. A handheld intrinsically safe device lets an operator photograph a fault or log a reading in a classified area without carrying a separate terminal. The IS-04Z1 is designed with a 50 MP camera and Android 16 for that kind of use.
A distributor for Borlänge would carry the IS-04Z1 after certification completes; the Q4 2026 launch is the planning date and no appointment has been made. SAMS reviews applicants one by one and prefers companies with their own Ex-competent technical and service staff, since certified devices must not be repaired outside approved channels.
Not today. Until the certificates are issued the IS-04Z1 stays out of classified areas, and until launch there is nothing to purchase. You can ask for the datasheet and the certification schedule, or book a safe-area evaluation unit.
No price is published. While certification is in progress there is no list price and no committed lead time, and a supplier quoting a firm figure for an uncertified Ex handset is promising something it cannot stand behind. Indicative pre-launch pricing is issued in writing against a stated quantity and site.
The circuits are designed to limit energy so a spark or hot surface cannot ignite a gas or dust atmosphere, even with one fault (level ib, Zone 1). Certification of that design is in progress.
Likely candidates are fuel and process gas systems, chemical and oil storage, dust-generating process areas (zone 21). Which areas are classified, and to what zone, is set by the site operator's own area classification drawings.
Apply through the distributor page with your company details and the territory you cover. SAMS reviews applications company by company and has not yet granted a territory for Borlänge.
Dala Airport is 8 km south-east with limited services, and Stockholm Arlanda is 214 km away, so many visitors arrive by train or road. Plan equipment delivery by road freight and confirm gate procedures with the site.
Steel works typically involve process gases, fuel gas and oxygen systems, hydraulic oil, coating lines, and dust from coal, ore or scale. The operator defines gas and dust zones, so ask SSAB for its classification drawings and portable-device rules before bringing equipment.
Winters in Borlänge are cold, with January averaging around -1 degrees C, so cold-tolerant batteries and gloved operation matter for outdoor rounds. The IS-04Z1 has a 4,000 mAh battery, but cold performance has not been published for it. Ask for the datasheet before specifying winter use.
Other guides for Borlänge, other places in Sweden, and the pages behind them.
Send the site, zone and gas group and roughly how many handsets. We reply by email with the datasheet and the certification schedule.
Name the site and the operator and we will send what is available before launch.